Grrl Power #265 – In summation…

One of the (few) drawbacks to having an especially active community here in the comments is that a page or two following a big reveal will generally be retread or just confirmation of what’s been discussed by you guys. It’s stuff that needs to be said in the comic anyway since not everyone reads the comments and also there’s the book version to think about. I’ll reiterate one thing I said in the comments for the previous page since it’s easy to miss, is that while Vehemence can draw power from any sort of violence, from a mugging to an earthquake, violence with intent is higher quality and better ‘tasting’. Presumably it comes with lots of Vitamin V. Also there’s a finite amount he’d be able to absorb from something as violent as an earthquake since the range at which he can absorb the energy from is limited. A 2000 mile long fault line’s no good to him if he can only absorb stuff from… well, I haven’t decided his range, but it’s well under a mile. Localized violence is better.

I really wanted this page to be a double page, as Vehemence’s speech took rather a lot of room, but I think I’ve kind of gotten into the habit of trying to make every page I can a double. I’ve done 7 of them in the last 10 pages, and it’s been a little stressful. Burnout is far too dramatic a word, but making this page and the next singles was almost like a vacation for me. By vacation, I mean I didn’t have to draw all day Sunday as well as the other 6 days and it was nice. I did some chores, went to the gym… then spent the rest of the day coloring the vote incentive anyway, but the point is that I wasn’t under the gun trying to get a page finished so I wouldn’t be behind on Monday which is when I write and start penciling new pages.

There were several suggestions in the comments that the team take a break and power up Dabbler to match V’s level, and Dabbler alludes to it here. It would be an epic bait and switch if I just suddenly changed the comic into a 20 page lesbian orgy right now, but… nah. :)

The question is, if Vehemence is so powerful, or at least so potentially powerful, how did Arc-LIGHT not know about him? Granted they haven’t done a great job tonight anyway, but in Vehemence’s case, he’s mostly just hung around in the background gathering power and never really needed to join in. What’s he going to do, get powered up during a race riot, then leap out and start attacking looters? He’d pulp anyone he hit, and while killing someone is usually a pretty violent thing, a dead rioter can’t continue rioting.

Even when he hung around underground super fight clubs, which given the low incidence of super powers are rare, but they still happened, he’s got nothing to prove. He’s just there for the meal. He’s revealing himself now mostly because as debuts go, this is a pretty good one, and also right now he’s so amped it’s like he’s been snorting Excedrin.

Here are some fun links for you. This one makes envious of the gals, cause whereas girls can wear basically anything without anyone batting an eye, guys are generally limited to 2-3 kinds of shirts and either pants or shorts, meaning there’s a whole range of geek wear I’m shut out of, like this Baroness tank dress. Though even if I was a girl, I’m not sure I would traipse around in something quite that sheer, though maybe it’s only partially see-through under studio lights. And probably direct sunlight, but then how often do proper geeks get exposed to that? Anyway if you’re within a decade of my age that site may have a few gems for you.

Here’s a quite funny webcomic I found, Deathbulge. As with a lot of webcomics, it takes a few strips to find it’s footing but is solid once it hits its stride. The RSS seems to be broken unfortunately, but it’s worth going through the archives IMO.

Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome which I can’t live without anymore, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.

Discussion (878) ¬

First sorry I am not an english native speaker…
I think there is more behind this all…a few hours after Maximas “Boom” Showoff, there were 30plus Guys there to take ARC down…Vehemence is GOOD to have this done…yes, he may like Violence..but there is more…mark my words…

There is much more to V than just a fighter. I suspect he is the person to go to when some crook needs high powered muscle or special powered individuals. That would explain how he organized the attack so fast. And why there were a lot of muscled up goons in the pack. He may have a boss above him but I think this was all Vehemence’s idea to get powered up beyond what he could normally get just hanging around fights or fighting lower powered types.

Even though Dave hasn’t yet revealed much of V’s background, I think he could’ve done quite well as a criminal Enforcer…Say, the chief leg-breaker for a loan shark as an example. The pay is good, the scenery changes, he gets to meet new people & still get a regular dose of V-energy from breaking bones. Through his boss, he could’ve had the criminal contacts available to set up this fight so quickly…For him, it was all a piece of cake & right now he’s eating it too. :D

Dabbles jumps on Sydney with flight and shield orb as her loyal steed and begins to fly away.

V is encouraged to follow while Maxima rides herd while other viable combat personnel load into their plane and follow at respectable distance.

They now have the ability to choose the future battle area, time to think up a knew strategy while hoping his energies drain a bit over time with the chase and at least they can say to the media that they are accomplishing some sort of “control” of the situation by forcefully removing him from an area with civilization relatively nearby (for people with super speed and jumping abilities anyway).

Anything that can get through his defenses, magic, tech or power can be useful with a bit of thought. Even if its not the ultimate solution.

This guy gets his powers from magic – ergo I think this needs a magical solution.

Obviously enough the marks on his arms and body appear like they might be a repository for all that energy he’s built up, and given they follow his body like the seams of a wetsuit, I can only assume its these marks that channel the energy around his body.

I therefore assume some sort of magical eraser may be necessary to either remove a section of the marks to break the flow, or all of the marks to dissipate the energy.

V may well have no powers of his own outside of those he’s magically acquired. TAke away the magic and then any simple jail cell may be enough to do the job.

(…better place that cell in the middle of some aging hippie commune though – just in case).

I’m going to assume he’s really freakin’ strong even without 8 metric f*cktons of V’s pumping through his tattoos. He HAS been getting buffer, but even at the beginning of the fight he was pretty huge.

Oopsies, I caught a slip-up in the dialogue. Mr. Barrack, you mean “all 4”, not “both”. I don’t think that’s what she’s winking about, I think the implication is that she’d be doing sexual services hands free, but that you clear went and forgot she’s a 4-armed monster.

I’m going to assume he’s really freakin’ strong even without 8 metric f*cktons of V’s pumping through his tattoos. He HAS been getting buffer, but even at the beginning of the fight he was pretty huge.

What if they run away so he can’t attack them? He’s pretty far away from other people. Maybe the strength he’s drawn from this would wear off by the time he found someone else to punch. Of course, then they’d have to keep him isolated. As for right now, what about Halo’s shield? Can she put it up *outside* herself? That could be a good temporary solution — at least they could wait for him to power down before running away.

Word of Dave is that Sydney’s shield must contain herself. She doesn’t necessarily need to be at the centre, but she does need to be on the inside. (That may change with a later upgrade, but that’s pure speculation at this point.)

It’s also unknown how quickly Vehemence’s power wears off if he doesn’t use it, or how effectively he can recharge himself by hitting the shield. It has been shown to be airtight, so the amount of time Sydney can keep up such containment is definitely limited.

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